The West Michigan Whitecaps celebrate on the field after winning the Eastern Division finals Monday. (Photo tweeted by the Whitecaps)

The West Michigan Whitecaps beat the Lansing Lugnuts 14-5 in an exciting Game 3 to win the Eastern Division finals and advance to the Midwest League Championship Series. They will face the Cedar Rapids Kernels, who won the Western Division finals Sunday.

The game initially was a back-and-forth affair that saw runs tallied in seven of the first 12 frames. It was a close contest until the top of the 7th inning, when the Whitecaps broke the game open by scoring five runs to take an 11-5 lead. West Michigan scored three more times in the next two innings to make it a 14-5 game.

Everyone in the Whitecaps lineup had at least one hit. Francisco Contreras went 3-for-5 with 4 RBI. Christin Stewart went 4-for-5 with 2 RBI. A.J. Simcox had four hits, Mike Gerber had three hits, and Will Kengor had three hits.

Kengor homered, as did Lansing’s Chris Carlson.

The best-of-five Midwest League Championship Series begins Wednesday at West Michigan.

Both the Whitecaps and the Kernels won the championship series the last time they played in it — West Michigan in 2007, Cedar Rapids in 1994.